Monday, April 6, 2009

For those of you not playing along since the beginning, there are some things you should know today. Brownie and I are huge baseball fans. She, like a good New Englander, roots for the Red Sox; I, like a good Queensian, root for the Mets. Add in that Danny Meyer was bringing his food to the new Shea, and there was no way we couldn't go to one of the first games at the new stadium.

There are so many things to say about the new stadium: it's clean, you can watch the game from the concessions, the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, the Fanwalk, the leg room. I had a lot of memories at Shea, tears were shed during my last game there, but within 15 minutes in the new Shea, I am in love with the new stadium. Mainly, it's for the leg room. But this is a food blog, so forget all that, we need to discuss the food options.

Our first stop was, of course, Danny Meyer Playland and Shake Shack. True to Shake Shack form, it had the longest line, but unlike the other two, you can have someone go get you other food and you can eat that on line.

You also don't miss anything happening in the game due to this huge screen.

While Brownie waited, I went for some carnitas tacos from El Verano Taqueria, across the way from Shake Shack/Blue Smoke. Delicious, especially with the tomatillo chipotle salsa poured all over it. It's only mildly spicy, which is great for me.

It was here that I noticed a very important element being laregly overlooked; each of the concessions behind center field has their own special Brooklyn Brewery beer! I'm saving the head-to-head taste test for warmer weather, stay tuned.

After waiting an inning, we finally got our shack on. Exactly like every other shack burger; salty, flavorful, and gone in under five minutes. I do hope this locale will do their own flavors of the month, or special flavors for each series. That's be awesome.

Then, by a stroke of luck, Brownie and I were picked to do the pizza pass. It's where two rows compete against each other, whichever gets three pizza boxes across fastest, gets free pizza. Our row won, and though the pizza left much to be desired, it's free so no complaints here.

Our next food investment was frites, from Box Frites. This is the large, and both sizes come with a free sauce. We chose smoked bacon, blue cheese, and chipotle ketchup. I preferred the smoked bacon, while Brownie downed the ketchup. I think she loved how the spicy and sweet combo played off the saltiness of the fries. And they were some crispy, fresh, perfect frites.

By this point, we were full, but the food search never stops. After watching the game for an inning or two, we wandered to the other side of the stadium to see what it had to offer. The World Fare Market, by right outfield, is the new home of Mama's of Corona among others.

It also houses blondies and brownies!

And $6 cupcakes. We got it, and it's a pass. It's good for $2.50, but for $6, $1.50 less than a beer, it's ridiculous and not in a good way. It's not the most horrible cupcake I've ever tasted, that award goes to the celebrities, but come on, $6! I have a problem with that.

All in all, the food cannot be beat, I don't care what celebrity chefs that other New York team picks up, we have Shake Shack and Blue Smoke! And it's available to EVERYONE, not a select few with good seats. For a true detailed reviews with most of the food available, click here and here. And for the rest of our photos (we've been taking a lot lately), click here.

Oh! I didn't get any cilantro and onion with my carnitas. They must have left it out by accident. That would have been the perfect touch. And I'm a huge spice person and thought that the salsa was pretty spicy. Are you super hardcore? Or perhaps there was some inconsistency with the salsas.

And lucky you that you got to try the pizza for free. When I saw the price (around five bucks) per slice, I decided to decline.